Hello!

Welcome to our mid-life crisis! These are the chronicles of Laura and Patrick, their young son Jack, and their goofball Labrador Retriever named Evinrude (Rudy), as they travelled the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific coast of mainland Mexico in their catamaran. We went cruising in search of a change of pace, a closer knit family, and peace of mind. We found all three and more. The fun all started in October, 2008 and nearly four years later the Mexican adventure came to an end August 3rd, 2012. With our mid-life crisis cured in Mexico, we are excited to start a new adventure - life back in America.

Patrick has since joined the Sales Team of Marine Servicenter as a boat broker. Whether you are looking to make your dream of sailing away come true, or ready to sell your boat he can help. He can be reached at http://marinesc.com/about/crew/patrick-harrigan

Just Another Minute?

One of the perks of Patrick's new job as boat broker is occasionally he gets to deliver boats from Point A to Point B. For this delivery he invited Jack and I along so we could accomplish a old dream - having a Lagoon in Pacific NW waters. This time the Lagoon was a spanking new 39 just off the freighter from France. Strangest coincidence of all, was that while we were underway we "ran into" Juniata, our old sailing friends from Mexico who are now plying the NW waters. Photo courtesy of Marcia on Juniata, Sept 10 2013.

Candeleros Chico

Just another beautiful day at anchor on the Baja. 2010

Dolphins at play in the bow wake 2011

Friday, August 3, 2012

Tha-tha-tha That's All, Folks!

Yesterday, we pulled into our old home town north of Seattle 2,448 miles from La Paz, completing the giant circle of our travels and bringing the end to our Mexican adventure.

Which makes this the last post - nearly four years worth of experiences summed up in 246 posts from beginning to end. Writing this blog has given me much joy. I really appreciate all the people who took time out of their lives to read about ours. We've had over 60,000 views from places including, but not limited to, Serbia, India, Russia, the Philippines, Japan, Ethiopia, France, South Africa, Brazil, Switzerland, and China! Simply amazing.

For those of you who helped get this dream afloat, a heartfelt thanks - namely Mark Schrader and Herb McCormick. Both of you played major roles in starting this thing off right. And Herb, your advice to buy a catamaran was invaluable! I don't think we would have been able to sell a mono hull, in this market, for $10,000 less than what we paid for it, in three months. Wow! Not to mention, it's the only reason we stayed out for four years - we were very comfortable.

Our adventure couldn't have happened without a lot of help from our friends. First, an enormous thank you to all the people who helped us troubleshoot breakdowns or improvements - namely Dave on s/v Juniata, Total Yacht Works of Mazatlan - Rafa and Bob) and Rick of s/v Hotel California. You Guys (and quite of few others) Rock. God bless the cruiser mentality of happily lending a hand, without expecting anything in return. It's getting harder to find it seems, but it is still there.

A huge thank you to our very patient and loving extended family Our absence has meant all of our sibs have done extra duty. An extra big kudos goes to my parents. It would have been so much harder to do this without your help. Mom and Dad acted as our mail drop, appointed banking representative, and yearly hotel, all while being deprived of access to their grandson.

A heartfelt thank you to Ben for spending every Tuesday night for several years with Patrick's dad.

A very big thanks to Tom for taking excellent care of our rental/renters in our absence.

A big apology to every Mexican whom I made suffer through my horrendous "Spanish". It was too embarrassing. I'll do better next time, I promise.

And last, an enormous hug to all the amazing cruisers out there that we have met and befriended along the way, some still cruising, and others now dirt dwellers like us. You made our trip so special. To name a few - Hotel California, Third Day, Juniata, Eyoni, Hotspur, Summerwings, Mamabird, Sunbaby, Jacaranda, Adios 3, Evergreen, Jake, Overheated, Masquerade, V'ger, Frances Lee, Full Shell, Dealmaker....there's just too many to name. We are so happy to have spent time with you.

For those of you now looking for new Sea of Cortez blogs to follow, check out a couple from this year's fresh crop of cruisers headed into the far north for their first hurricane season - two we've enjoyed meeting are Trisha and Derek on Interabang and Tom and Jeanne on Eagle.

As we head in to the arms of America to be lost in the anonymous shuffle, I have just one request. Go have your own adventure, and I'll read about yours! ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

14 comments:

Thanks for the memories! Loved reading your blog (and would love to read at least one post on how your're adjusting to "real" life). We just started cruising the Sea in March and have been lucky enough to meet some of the other cruisers you mention, but sadly, just narrowly missed meeting you. Enjoy your new (old) life :-) Best from Verena and Mike on Camille. www.pacificsailors.com

HI guys, sad to read the "last blog"!! I have enjoyed reading them and thinking about how awesome it would be to do it like you all did!! Hooked up with Eyoni the other night in upper conception bay for a great evening and another DMP!! Nice to see them. Heard you all were probably driving by at some time when we were there. Take care, stay in touch and good luck!! Talk to you soon. Sean DEAL MAKER

The DMP. How could we miss it? And yes, as we drove by, we counted the boats that were anchored at Santa Domingo. Didn't know two of them were you and Eyoni! If we had known.... We loved meeting you and your family. Would love to keep in touch. You guys have the best blend of land and sea life. We will always be up for a DMP (Deal Maker Party).God Bless,Laura, Patrick, and Jack

We too, would like to see a postscript sometime in the future, for no other reason than to help with our withdrawals. It's been great fun reading your blog and we're pleased that you have managed to get a full hoist on your main sail. Best of luck to a wonderful family. We hope to hear more from you.

Hey, I expect to see the blog in book form. Hard to believe its over...on to the next adventure. We still plan on taking SunBaby Too to LaPaz in the fall. Colin will be at MLP so it will be good to see him. If you get the itch hop on a plane. you always have a place. We'll call when we go to the PNW. Love you guys. Send your new email

Living and learning on a boat.

Our cruise lasted almost four years, even though it was only planned to last two. Over the years we learned some good lessons and figured out a few things. Below are some pictures of lessons we have learned. If you see something you're interested in, simply look through the blogs posted around that date, for more information.

Flying the Spinnaker, 12/2011

In our evolution as sailors, learning to use another sail is a big accomplishment for us. What a great way to sail!

Spear fishing, Isla Angel de la Guarda 10/2011

Patrick and Jack have been learning how to spear fish for the last couple years, but this summer, Patrick made big leaps in his skill. Here he is with his record Leopard grouper for the season - one of our favorite fish to eat. We've stuffed ourselves with fish this summer.

Careened! Puerto Don Juan LA Bay 09/2010

After hauling out in boat yards five times in the last two years at $700 to $1000 each time, we are very excited to learn that careening is so easy.

Our First Race, LA Bay 09/2010

A group of five family cruising boats decided to have a race back to the village from La Gringa. Learning to sail our boat has been a long process. Being highly optimistic people we were sure we could figure it out and we were right. Having 20+ years of previous salt water (power) boating experience had taught us all the things we needed to know to stay alive on the water, it was just the intricacies of the sail we needed to learn. To those out there dreaming - don't sweat the small stuff.

Zoologico Puerto Vallarta, 04/2010

An experience like no other. We were allowed to be close enough to feed the animals from our fingers (even the black bear) and to play with the baby black panther.

A Fisherman is Born, 12/2009

Landed enroute from La Paz to Mazatlan.

Steinbeck Canyon, near Puerto Escondido 11/2009

One of our favorite discoveries to date. So wild, beautiful and untouched. Cactus and tropical flowering plants existing side by side in this unique environment. Water and shade in the desert, creating a beautiful oasis..

Boat kids, Willard Bay 08/2009

The best part about being a boat kid is having the time to come up with your own games. Here the kids from Windfall, Third Day and JaM collaborated efforts, bedsheets, dinghies and kayaks to make a flotilla of small sailing craft for races across Willard Bay. It was a hilarious excersize and kept everyone busy for hours.

Endless boat chores send you from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast....

But as Patrick said one day after snorkeling to scrape the barnacles and seaweed off the hull, "It beats mowing the lawn."

Los Arcos, Isla San Marcos 06/2009

Rudy, Super Dog 05/2009

After months of practice, Rudy has learned to jump off the boat, swim and climb back up using the swim ladder. There's hope for him yet.

Teacapan waterfront, 04/2009

Only about one cruiser a year comes to this anchorage - no navigation buoys, no channel markers, no dredging. Our depth reader read 3.6 at one point. The exact depth of our keel. It was exciting, but many of our favorite places are the ones that aren't listed in cruiser guides.

On the nets with Ru, Isla Isabel 03/2009

This island is a bird sanctuary and so no dogs allowed. It was Rudy's first time staying on the boat for several days without land breaks. He was a little confused the first time we threw him off the boat to swim for excercise, but he got used to it pretty quickly.

La Paz, 12/2008

This picture was taken in our first weeks on the boat in La Paz. Now over 3 years later, I am amazed at how young Jack looks. Wow, how quickly time with your children flies by. I am so glad we came out here together as a family..

Passage CA to Cabo, 11/2008

The Baconator nabbed this one

Golden Gate Bridge, 10/25/2008

Despite being berthed in SF harbor for seven years, this was Just a Minute's (fka Vive tu Vida) first time under the bridge on her own power and the beginning of our adventure, too!

Our home

Just a Minute is a 2001 Lagoon 380 catamaran, hull # 65. She's 38 feet long, 22 feet wide, with three staterooms and 2 heads. Picture taken by Third Day